Dorothy Hill Gates

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Change is in the Air Part 2

So the Gates have made the big decision to relocate to Kansas City. We have 2 weeks to pack up, say our goodbyes, make the 9-10 hour move, get settled in and then for Lee to start his new job. My brain is in a complete idle mode. I feel like my body is doing the motions but my brain has not allowed my heart to let it sink in.

I'm not good with goodbyes. I get very attached to people. My family, church and friends are everything to me. God has blessed us with a very close knit circle of friends and family that they are both. Our family is our closest friends and our close friends are like family. God has blessed us tremendously.

And then there is our little country cottage. It has been our Oasis for the last 7 years. Our fixer-upper. It's where we got engaged, made a home after we were married, where we brought our son to from the hospital, where he learned to crawl, walk and run.

While I do not want to attach myself to earthly possessions, I know that this house will always have a special place, filled with the happiest of memories, in my heart.

However, I know that new memories will be made and a wonderful journey lies ahead. So I will not say goodbye but rather until next time!!

Change is in the Air - part 1

During my husband's work trip in New Orleans he was offered several different job opportunities. One of which was in Kansas City. His job graciously sent us there for several days to check out the city, look into housing and make a decision. With not a lot of time we were amazed how quickly God gave us peace that this was the direction He was leading us. We even found an older 1950's house on 2 acres in a quaint little neighborhood. This is a view of the back of the house with a huge screened-in back porch!!

Once the pressure of finding a rental (in such record breaking speed) was off of our shoulders, we were able to relax a little and check out some of the attractions. We thoroughly enjoyed some family fun. We ventured out and found the neatest Train restaurant in Crown Center.

As you can imagine..Arlee was in Choo-choo heaven

We had a wonderful time and fell in love with Kansas City, now the hard part is telling everyone and actually moving here!

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Weekend Getaway to NOLA- July 2016

My Hubby had to work in New Orleans for 2 weeks. I wasn't crazy about him being away that long and it didn't work out for me and Arlee to tag along the entire time. But we did decide to make a little getaway weekend out of it, in the middle of his time away. Yes, I was a tad nervous to drive there by myself with Arlee but I knew it would be worth it once I we arrived. I got a dog - sitter to stay at the house which would make the trip a whole lot easier!

So, on Thursday evening I loaded up the car and when we got up Friday morning we hit the road for that 5 hour trip. Arlee did fantastic!!! I was soo proud of him. I was also surprised he stayed awake the entire drive.

We ended up getting in just as Lee was getting off work. Perfect timing. He was staying in a hotel right in downtown NOLA. We had the nist amazing view..we were so close to the Cruise Ships!!..Here is a picture of one peeking behind the buildings.

Once we got settled in we were able to walk around downtown and enjoy a wonderful dinner.

We took a walk down Riverside and ended up in the mall. It was the best thing for Arlee, he was able to play in the play area and burn off lots of energy!!!

We also came across this Hurricane Katrina Memorial of a house thrown into a tree. It was made out of scrap and debris from Katrina. It was very humbling and eye-opening.

On Saturday we walked around again and checked out the Aquarium.

Daddy and Arlee waiving down at Momma

Yogurt Break

We went back to the hotel for a little nap time. .lol Then that evening we ventured out of the downtown area and did a little sight seeing and went out for dinner

Sunday we had a slow lazy day. We found an amazing park for Arlee. Then we did a little shopping (as in I did some shopping...there was a fantastic Charming Charlies there!) And then we topped the night off with the Cheesecake Factory!

What a way to end a perfect weekend! !!

Once Arlee and I got home and back in our routine, I decided to detract him a little from missing his Daddy. We went to see the Secret Life of Pets...Absolutely Adorable

How precious is this picture. He reached for my hand to hold!!!..talk about melting a heart!!

Friday, August 19, 2016

The Adventures of Arlee - Summer of 2016

This summer has been such a fun one for Arlee. He is growing up so quickly and learning something new everyday. I thought it would be fun to share some of the highlights of his summer. He is 2 but quickly approaching 3. This summer his speech and communication really developed and he talks non-stop. We are still working on potty training . Occasionally he wears his "Choo-choo Choe" (Paw patrol) undies..he picked them out!!

Our normal routine is sleeping in, watching a cartoon while drinking milk, breakfast, (his favorite includes toast with jelly, banana, smoothie, banana cakes and cereal) then off for our daily walk to the little "creek" where we throw rocks and sticks!! Then...Playing outside, "wimming", driving his truck, playing inside with choo-choos and cars, fighting a nap and going to the piano studio.

Just a little recap of our Summer included.....

Lots of play time outside...

Playing in the pool and in the sprinklers..

He spent lots of time climbing and playing up in his fort...we had the first 2 stories available for him but blocked off the 3rd. I wanted to wait until he was bigger to go that high...but he figured out how to get up to the 3rd story. We quickly realized we could not keep him down so Lee very quickly build rails and a ladder so he could safely get up there...what a monkey!!